I’ve been rewatching a lot of the series, and a recent debate came up on whether or not Luffy will ever fight Shanks. I believe the answer is a resounding “YES”.
- Luffy already acknowledged he was going to fight all 4 Emperors and was happy as long as Shanks wasn’t first.
- Luffy needs to prove he has become a stronger pirate than Shanks.
Would Shanks fight Luffy? I think again, this is a resounding Yes. All through the series, the only certainties we’ve known about Shanks is that he WANTS a good fight.
- He constantly sparred with Mihawk (someone else with an unknown history), until he lost his arm for Luffy.
- He also came aboard Whitebeard’s ship with his Haki of the Supreme King out in full force. Just to force a little clash with Whitebeard.
Unfortunately, no one on his league WANTS to fight him. He lives the most carefree life of all the pirates. His mere presence at the Battle of Marineford ended it. And the Fleet Admiral accepted his request immediately.
The theme of Garp being the Hero of the Marines, even though he was D., needs a parallel or mirror. The only thing that comes to mind is that Shanks is a Celestial Dragon. More than likely a child of one of the Gorosei (He has the strongest known Haki of the Supreme King, indicates a royalty family of the highest order).
His first intro to the series is laughing at being disrepsected and assaulted in the bar. Telling Luffy that, that is no reason to kill someone. Something that we see as a polar opposite of the Celestial Dragons, more than likely intentionally. His best friend is Buggy the Clown, and all Buggy did to earn Shanks respect was treat him as an equal.
Shanks the only known pirate we’ve seen in the presence of the Gorosei, and they showed HIM respect and allowed him access to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise! Trying to figure out which Gorosei would more than likely be his father brought another surprise. There is one person who also supports the norse theme being named after a giant. He wields a saber just like Shanks, and he sits on the empty throne. His name is Im.
If Shanks is the heir to the Empty throne, it would explain why he has the greatest Haki seen so far. Luffy being the heir on Joyboy’s side would be the only comparable “Supreme King” to Shanks, and thus why Luffy was setup to surpass Shanks in chapter one.
The Fight between Luffy and Shanks, won’t have Shanks rolling over like many believe. It will be a true to fight for the heir to the Empty Throne. Shanks as Prince and heir to Throne went out to sea with the King of the Pirates to learn about his land. He discovered Raftel, where he learned the true history and felt unworthy to sit on the throne, why it’s empty. Instead of sitting on the throne, he hunted down Joyboy’s heir and started grooming him to become a worthy ruler.
Once Luffy feels he is worthy to sit on the throne, Shanks will battle him for it. It is this battle that destroys the Red Line and Fishman Island. Blackbeard is a great pirate, but this is going to be a battle of Supreme Kings.
*Theory by ErisGrey
